5 Ways Learning a Musical Instrument Improves Mental Health

Various researches have shown that learning to play an instrument positively influences psychological processes and improves a person’s overall mental health. According to neuroscientists, playing an instrument simultaneously engages every major part of the central nervous system, especially the areas responsible for visual, auditory and motor processes, which is the brain’s equivalent of a full body workout . Read on, as we share some of the key ways in which learning a musical instrument develops the brain and improves mental health.

Reduces Stress

In today’s hurried times, no one is immune to stress. While we all would agree that listening to music helps reduce stress and uplifts the mood, playing an instrument is even better for the brain. Learning to play a musical instrument gives you a sense of accomplishment, which triggers the brain’s reward centers, releasing endorphins – the “feel-good” hormones, thereby reducing stress and keeping you high-spirited.

Nurtures Creativity

If you are inclined towards all things creative, learning to play a musical instrument may do wonders for your brain. As humans, it is our innate desire to add a part of ourselves to all that we touch, and knowing how to play a musical instrument gives us a great way to realise that desire. When you play an instrument, you add your interpretation and personality to the performance, which stimulates the creative reservoirs of the brain.

Makes You Smarter

When you play a music instrument, the brain’s motor systems are constantly engaged in complex and intricate ways while you manage multiple aspects of your performance such as rhythm, melody, harmony, dynamics, etc. When you play a piece of music, your brain’s auditory cortex constantly processes the sound produced and makes split-second decisions and makes fine adjustments to improve the performance. All these activities release BDNF, CREB, and synapsin, the elements that strengthen our mental faculties.

Helps Combat Depression

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “at least 57 million people in India are affected by depression”, and making the scenario even grimmer is the lack of awareness on the subject, which is why most people don’t even talk about it even when they feel something is not right in the way they are feeling. Playing a musical instrument helps combat depression the same way as it reduces stress, by releasing the “feel-good” hormones.

Improves Memory

Since musicians are constantly engaging the left and right hemisphere of the brain while performing, they have the thickest corpus callosum, the bridge between the left and right hemisphere of the brain, to allow for high flow of information. Musicians have the ability to apply multiple tags to their memories like an audio tag, textual tag, emotional tag, etc. just like a good internet search engine. This allows musicians to store and effectively recall vast amounts of information stored in both short term and long term memory. Simply put, what workout is for the body, learning an instrument is for the brain. When you play an instrument, your brain is consistently “working out”, as it is challenged to accomplish the given task. Moreover, it requires active participation of both the left and right hemispheres of the brain to control logic-based and creative tasks, respectively. Using both the hemispheres simultaneously strengthens memory and recall.

Wrap Up

While learning to play a musical instrument as a child provides life-long benefits to the brain, taking online music classes at an older age reduces the risk of memory loss and cognitive dysfunction. If you want to get the most out of music by learning to play your favorite instrument, enroll in our personalized online music classes today. Check out our online music courses, and choose the one that best suits your needs. Bridge Music Academy offers a wide selection of online music programs for all skill levels, from beginner to advanced. To learn more about our offline and online music courses in Delhi, simply call +91-74283 09990, or fill out our contact form and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.